'Once Upon a Time': 'Heart of Darkness' recap

That's more like it. Now that we're approaching the back-end of the debut season, it seems that the show is finally prepared to make significant advancements in the story.

Don't get me wrong, Once Upon a Time hasn't been bad. On the contrary, it's been enjoyable television and definitely one of the highlights from this season's crop of new dramas. But too many times, it feels like little progression has been made from week to week - it was getting a tiny bit stale with the same old same old, whether if it's the fact that no-one believes Henry, or Regina's antagonistic personality.

Trust 'Heart of Darkness', then, to answer my criticisms with a superbly paced episode that suggests big changes are on the way.

The fairytale world centres on Snow White's obsession with killing the Evil Queen. It's not like her at all to plot murder, but her misery has come about after drinking the potion that Rumpelstiltskin gave to forget about Prince Charming. As Rumpelstiltskin puts it, Snow has a hole where her heart should be. The love is part of her, and without it, she's changed for the worse.

While this is going on, Charming is desperately trying to look for her. He finds Rumpelstiltskin and demands how to reverse the magic. The answer? That she receives a kiss from her one true love. However, it proves trickier than Charming thought. After finding and kissing Snow, he receives a knock on the head and is tied up for his troubles. She still doesn't remember.

It's only when Charming dives in front of an arrow meant for the Evil Queen and proclaims that he'd die for her that the kiss has its desired effect. He had to remind her who she was - and that's not a murderer. It's an extremely well done scene that wouldn't have worked if Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas didn't have the chemistry between them. They're adorable together. Sadly, their bliss is short-lived when King George's men capture Charming.

Things are similarly dire in Storybrooke as Mary is suspected of offing Kathryn. The more that Emma investigates, the more obvious it seems that Mary is being framed, most likely by Regina who would have had access to plant evidence.

But if anything, it seems Regina's hold over the town is waning as Emma (spurred on by Henry) chooses to have the utmost faith in Mary. She's not a believer of the fairytales yet, but Emma has found herself a home in Storybrooke that she never had, and she's willing to take on Regina with, interestingly, Mr Gold's help. Momentum is being built, and the imminent showdown between Emma and Regina could be a must-watch.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that David had flashes to his fairytale life! Unfortunately, he misinterpreted his memories and virtually accused Mary of being involved in Kathryn's disappearance. The tease that someone else is close to discovering their original life is tantalising, and ramps up the anticipation for future David scenes. When will he figure out the truth behind these flashes?

A lot of the pieces are coming together now, and that includes August's reveal to Henry that he's also a believer as well as Rumpelstiltskin's completion of the love potion (two strands of hair belonging to Snow and Charming). "Love is the most powerful magic of all," Rumpelstiltskin teases. What he means exactly or what he's planning (he told Snow: "I'm invested in your future") remains to be seen, but he is definitely the most fascinating character right now.

Elsewhere, it was definitely great to see a different side of Snow and how much her love for Charming defines her and her innocence. It's paralleled in Storybrooke - when David isn't willing to stand by her and when Mary is heartbroken, she breaks out of jail despite insisting throughout this week that she's innocent.

'Heart of Darkness' is one of the strongest hours of the show to date, with the perfect mix of character-driven stories and progression. It also had Red Riding Hood charging at the men as she transformed into her wolf form, and that was undeniably brilliant.